Friday Finds 9.3.2010

Brendan: Naef

Flipping through an old journal I kept while traveling through Switzerland nearly 8 years ago, I came across a quick sketch I had done of the Naef logo. I was instantly reminded of the day and how excited I was to come across the Naef company. Naef, as some of you may know, is a fantastic Swiss company that make beautifully crafted wooden toys. Superior craftsmanship, beautiful color combinations, and an assortment of toys-from puzzles to mobiles. Founder Kurt Naef was an exceptional designer, thinker, and social advocate. Naef has worked for years with Enfants du Monde with the belief that all children should have tpys- so with each order of Naef products, a portion of proceeds is donated to Enfants du Mode.

Jaime: Portugal's Stone Houses

I can't remember how I found my way to this photo stream, from photographer Feliciano Guimarães, but apparently in Portugal there are villages with houses built between or beneath massive boulders. The result is this and this: fairytale-like dwellings that appear to be squeezed around and under gigantic rocks. The village of Fafe has some, as well as Monsanto, which apparently in 1938 was voted "the most Portuguese village in Portugal" in a national contest. I would love to see the inside of these houses.

Miyoko: Handkerchief Wedding Invitations

What are the two things you need to go to a wedding? Directions and something with which to dab your eyes. Here, the perfect combination: A wedding invitation (which was letterpressed) that's a hankie with the directions to the venue printed on it. Doesn't get much better than that. (via craftzine.com)

Ethan: East / West

Designer and photographer Justin Colt takes us on a whirl-wind horizontal scrolling adventure through America, from the east coast to the west. Justin created this exercise in scrolling after capturing his cross-country trek in 35 and 120mm film. The result is an interesting, state-by-state look at what was surely an exciting road trip.

Amy: The Hit Pool on Flickr

I've been on a binge of looking at new photographers work, or at least, new to me. In this binge I happened upon this flickr sight, with some lovely and intriguing images. I love things like this.

Aaron: Archdaily Flickr Pool

I'm a huge fan of ArchDaily for frequent infusions of architecture porn. Much of their imagery comes from the firms themselves, but they've also got quite a thriving trade going on Flickr. On the eve of their Flickr pool heading toward its 25,000th image they've culled the latest edition of their Best of Flickr series. Check out version XVIII right here, and to get a glimpse of other winners from their Flickr pool click here.

Tiffany: Dancing in the Movies

As someone who will admit to having actually attended a special 'Sing-and-Dance-along' showing of Mamma Mia, I do love any movie that will make me snap my fingers and do a little shuffle step. Earlier this week, Jason Kottke pointed us to this fantastic montage of cinematic dancing scenes.  How many can you name before you get up and start dancing in the aisles of your office?